Defender wants Walsall to put down a marker...
Left-back Scott Laird has called for the Saddlers to show more consistency in the second half of the season.Jon Whitney’s side sit 15th in League One at the halfway stage, with as many wins as defeats – seven – along with nine draws.
The Saddlers have been in decent form of late, though, picking up four points from the last two games against Bradford and Port Vale.
And Laird says we must maintain that sort of consistency if we are to start climbing the table.
“We had a good run when I first arrived at the club – we went a few games unbeaten – but then we had a bit of a dip,” said the Scunthorpe loanee.
“We need some consistency. We’ve had some good results recently and hopefully we can kick on now in the second half of the season because that is when it counts.
“No-one remembers August and December come May, so it’s now our chance to really put a marker down in this league and I think we can certainly do that.
“If you put a good two or three wins together over the Christmas period then you can really shoot up the table.
“I’ve been involved with teams who’ve been in the bottom half of the team, shot up and gone up through the play-offs.
“We saw Barnsley last year do it, and there’s always one team. We’ve got to keep our heads down, look to the next game, and hopefully we can be that team this season.”
Our final match of 2016 sees us visit Michael Appleton’s Oxford, the team immediately above us in the table.
Goal difference is all that separates the two sides and Laird is anticipating an entertaining encounter.
“It’ll be a good game,” he added. “The fans there are always good and it’s always a good atmosphere at Oxford.
“They play a good style of football and I’m sure it’ll be a very good game. It’s one we’ll be looking to win to take us into January.”